They say it’s all about who you know in Hollywood, but that didn’t help James Gunn in persuading his pal Bradley Cooper to join the DCU.
I have to admit, I like the look of Gunn’s burgeoning DCU right now. Of all the upcoming DC movies, it’s Superman Legacy which is making the most progress, with Nicholas Hoult one of three new cast members to reportedly join the team this week.
Hoult is now all but confirmed to be playing DC villain, Lex Luthor, but it seems he might not have been Gunn’s first choice. According to Jeff Sneider, the filmmaker had been tapping up Bradley Cooper for the role “during the press tour for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” but to no avail.
We know Gunn loves to collaborate with familiar faces time and time again — he took Michael Rooker over to DC for The Suicide Squad and borrowed Chukwudi Iwuji for the Guardians of the Galaxy cast after working with him on Peacemaker. So, it makes perfect sense that, after working with Cooper for nigh on a decade, Gunn would have tried to weave him into his plans for Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters.
I believe Cooper would have made for an effective Lex, too. He’s probably a little too old for the kind of Superman story Gunn is going for with Legacy, but he’s definitely got that odd kind of charisma mixed with condescension vibe that the DC character needs. Can you imagine Cooper bringing the Licorice Pizza energy to Lex? That would totally work.
Fair play to Cooper, though; he’s got plenty of other irons in the fire. After voicing an anthropomorphic raccoon for the last ten years, it’s no surprise he wants to move on from superhero movies and focus on trying to win an Oscar. He may not have succeeded with A Star is Born, but his new movie, Maestro, has a good shot.
Cooper does still have one finger in the DC pie, mind you – he’s a producer on Joker 2. We’d bet he’s watched all the DC movies in order before, too, though that’s probably why he’s not wanting to jump on board as an actor. If you want to check out more upcoming DC projects, here’s what we know about the Aquaman 2 release date.